We are more than 40 games into the 2012 fantasy baseball season, so its time to take a peek at the noteworthy catcher performances to date.
It has been a rather lukewarm first quarter for the league's backstops. Only in deep leagues have any of them been worthy of starting for you at the UTIL position (should you have been fortunate enough to have acquired two top-10 catchers).
Not one of them is on pace to score 90 runs, hit 35 home runs, or drive in 110 runs. Let's take a look at some of the particulars:
Top 10 (based on Yahoo! format R - HR - RBI - SB - AVG)
1. Carlos Ruiz 21 - 7 - 29 - 2 - .355
2. Yadier Molina 20 - 5 - 20 - 4 - .299
3. Jonathan Lucroy 13 - 4 - 27 - 2 - .342
4. A.J. Pierzynski 17 - 6 - 27 - 0 - .301
5. J.P. Arencibia 17 - 7 - 26 - 1 - .256
6. Carlos Santana 21 - 5 - 22 - 2 - .261
7. Matt Wieters 21 - 8 - 20 - 0 - .243
8. Brian McCann 16 - 6 - 24 - 1 - 260
9. Mike Napoli 21 - 7 - 18 - 0 - .244
10. Jarrod Saltalamacchia 14 - 7 - 19 - 0 - .282
Biggest Surprise
Ruiz - A well-kept secret in Philly, until this season Chooch was known for his clutch hits in the postseason. He has never hit more than 9 home runs in a season, but is on pace to shatter career marks across the board. He came in as the 20th ranked catcher in the preseason, and his career splits have him as a much better hitter the second half of the season.
Biggest Disappointment
Geovany Soto - his miserable season was put on hold when he recently went on the DL to have his knee scoped. Fantasy owners that drafted him should have had their brains scoped - a preseason #9 ranking has returned value worthy of the 36th best catcher: 11 - 3 - 6 - .161.
Keep an Eye On
A.J. Ellis - only owned in 24% of Yahoo! leagues, Ellis recently had a streak of reaching base via a hit or walk in 28 straight games. He's not gonna hit a bunch of home runs, but I can see his current line projecting to somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 - 12 - 80 - 4 - .300 in around 135 games. That would easily put him in the top-10 catcher rankings at the end of the season.
Statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com .
Trevor Crovitz has been playing Fantasy Sports for nearly 20 years, dating back to the era when stats and standings were tabulated by hand on notebook paper. Follow him on his blog The Sports Cult, and on twitter: @tcrovitz .
More from This Contributor:
Adam Wainwright, Matt Moore, & Josh Johnson Overvalued as Fantasy SPs: A Fan's TakeJosh Hamilton & Matt Holliday Overvalued as Fantasy Baseball Outfielders: A Fan's Take
Ignore Closers; Win With Elite Middle Relievers; A Fan's Fantasy Baseball Strategy
Elvis Andrus is Overvalued as a Fantasy Baseball Shortstop: A Fan's Take
Avoid Mark Reynolds in 2012 Fantasy Baseball Draft: A Fan's Take
